Nigerian captors free engineers

Two Turkish engineers kidnapped on April 6 in Nigeria's oil-rich but volatile south were released by their captors on Friday, the national Anatolia news agency said.

Nigerian captors free Turkish engineers

Two Turkish engineers kidnapped on April 6 in Nigeria's oil-rich but volatile south were released by their captors on Friday, the national Anatolia news agency said.

Turkey was informed by Nigerian officials that the men were released and had been taken to the Turkish embassy in Abuja, it said, adding that they were in good health.

Ilker Izci and Murat Orhan, who were working for Turkish telecommunications engineering company Merpa -- a subcontractor of Italian oil company Agip -- were abducted by armed men who intercepted their vehicle while they were driving in Port Harcourt.

Since the beginning of the year, 60 foreigners -- as many as those kidnapped in the whole of 2006 -- have been abducted in southern Nigeria.

Most of the hostages have been released unharmed but a few have been held for protracted periods.

Some of the hostage-takers are well organized, well-equipped groups fighting for a greater share of oil wealth to go to local communities. Authorities describe others as criminal gangs out to make money from ransom payments.